Chaleur humaine ('Human Warmth'), retitled Christine and the Queens in some English-speaking territories,
Background
The album was first released in France as
Chaleur humaine in June 2014.
The album was released in United States on 16 October 2015 via Because Music as
Christine and the Queens.
For its American release, many the tracks were reworked with English lyrics and revamped beats by producer Ash Workman.
Two tracks were replaced with three new songs. Two of the new songs are collaborations – "Jonathan" with
Perfume Genius, and "No Harm Is Done" with rapper Tunji Ige. The American version was released in the UK in 2016 but reverted to its original French title.
Composition
On his verified Genius account, Letissier offers some insight on how some tracks were conceived.
He describes the whole album as "a dream about adolescence" "Christine"/"Tilted" is about "trying to embrace this weirdness, awkwardness of yours, all those thoughts and details that make you feel like you don't belong."
"Saint Claude" is written in a stream of consciousness style, inspired by rappers like
Kendrick Lamar that Letissier was listening to at the time.
"Science Fiction" is about a
Seapunk girl named Stella "galaxy shorts" and the song is described as an
LSD daydream about her. The lyric "paper cut humanoids" is a direct allusion to the animated series
The Wild Planet. Letissier describes it as an
italo disco inspired by Lovemachine by Supermax.
The percussion on "Here" was inspired by
Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight".
"Ugly-Pretty" takes inspiration "from certain harmonic sequences specific to
and pieces of
classical music" as well as
Klaus Nomi and
House music and the title itself was taken from Letissier watching American reality television programs like
America's Next Top Model. The bridge features lyrics in French that refer to
pornography and the idea of abstract sex not connected to emotions, and the theme of ugliness vs attractiveness at the same time.
Critical reception
The album has been given a
Metacritic rating of 85 based on 11 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
The album is featured on many end of year lists, including Rough Trade and NME.
Accolades
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| The Guardian | Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | | |
| The Independent | Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | | |
| Mojo | The 50 Best Albums of 2016 | 2016 | | |
| NME | NMEs Albums of the Year 2016 | 2016 | | |
| Rough Trade | Albums of the Year | 2016 | | |
Commercial performance
The album first entered the French chart at No. 6 on its release in June 2014, and peaked at No. 2 in February 2015.
As of April 2018, the album had sold 650,000 units in this country.
It also reached No. 1 on the Belgian
Wallonia albums chart.
The English version of the album was released in the UK on 26 February 2016, and first entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 132 the following week.
In 2016 it was awarded a platinum certification from the Independent Music Companies Association,[http://www.impalamusic.org/sites/default/files/pictures/Awards1.png ] which indicated sales of at least 400,000 copies+ throughout Europe.
As of January 2017 the record has sold 970,000 copies worldwide, in addition to attracting more than 194m streams – an ‘album equivalent’ streaming figure in most territories of 129,000.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
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! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
Certifications
